Granada!

Hey friends and fammmm :)

Greetings from Grana! (That's how cool people say "granada") It's Christmas timmmme and things are getting exciting over here. The city has put up streams of big lights across all the streets, it's also getting pretty cold out- like 30's. It's a good excuse to wear beanies and layers and 2 pairs of pants :) I put up Christmas lights in my room and got together all my Christmas music. Tis the seasonnnn.

I still LOVE being here. This experience just doesn't get old- the beauty of the city, the challenge of learning a foreign language, the oddities of trying to integrate into another culture. I love it. I've noticed a few ways that I'm slowing becoming more and more like a spaniard...

1. My new go-to exclamatory phrase is "joder," pronounced "hoe-dare." It means shit/shoot/crap/frik etc in spanish. When someone tells me something crazy, when I spill the last of my food on the floor, when I miss my bus stop and end up in another city- I say joder. So that's good?

2. People ask me for directions! Who knowssssss if I tell them the right thing, but I always tell them something. I must look a little little bit spanish, enough for people to ask me for directions... so that's good :)

3. I actually really really like watching soccer games. Madrid, Barcelona, Granada, whoever. This Sunday I'm going to another granada fútbol game with Alberto because he has season passes! Score.

4. I've put it upon myself to have a personal staring contest with every person that passes me as I walk through the city. At first it really bugged me that spanish people stare for wayyyy longer than social norms should permit, but now I just stare right back. Haha it's fun and eventually they look away, to which i feel a small sense of victory :)

In addition to becoming more Spanish, I've also noticed ways that I'm still wayyyyy American..

1. I eat dinner around 7pm. Cuz that's when I'm hungry! Spaniards eat at 10pm. F... that.

2. I'm blonde. Enough said. Ill never reeeeally pass as a spaniard because of this. What can ya do!?

3. I don't wear heals on a daily basis. Heals hurt. I don't enjoy subjecting myself to pain. Spanish women are apparently alotttt cooler than me in this area.

4. I do wear a backpack though. Seems logical to me: if you have alotta crap to hold, put it in a backpack! Spanish women and me do not see eye to eye on this.

5. I eat food while walking around granada. Seems like spanish people don't understand this concept. And I like that. Meals are an integral part of their day.. they would never make a sandwich and then eat it on the way to class, or order a coffee and drink it on the way to work. You sit and eat and enjoy your food/coffee and thennnn move on with your day. I haven't mastered this technique yet.

Welp, Thanksgiving was really fun. We got together with 20 or so people--spaniards, americans, and europeans alike--and made a maaaassive amount of food. Lots of dessert and wine, too. That night was also Alberto's birthday, so we made his favorite meal: eggs, fries and bacon. Qué noche, qué noche..

Here's some random pictures from the past month. Love you all and hope you're doin well :) ¡¡ Merry Christmas!!